# Judge blocks graphic labels on cigarette packages.



## StogieNinja (Jul 29, 2009)

Judge Blocks Graphic Cigarette Labels - WSJ.com

WASHINGTON-A federal judge temporarily blocked the implementation of graphic warning labels on cigarettes while a case about whether the labels are constitutional proceeds...


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## Staxed (Oct 16, 2011)

I'm not a cigarette smoker (anymore), but I'm very glad to see this get blocked. I know it's just temporary, but I hope it leads to something more.

The labels they are wanting to implement are ridiculous...and who knows where it'll go from there if they succeed with this


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## StogieNinja (Jul 29, 2009)

I'm not a cigarrete smoker, and I have no problem stating that I think cigarette manufacturers make awful product designed to promote addiction.

That being said, the labeling law absolutely violates free speech, and since it's about tobacco, sooner or later it would have affected the rights of cigar producers as well. 

Quite thankful for this ruling.


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## David_ESM (May 11, 2011)

Might as well put a picture of an obese guy on all soda/candy.


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## Strickland (Feb 15, 2011)

And crash victims on cars.
And AIDS patients on KY jelly.
And aborted fetuses on liquor bottles.

So sick and tired of living in a Nanny State.


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## Marlboro Cigars-cl (Feb 19, 2007)

Great news; the overtaxation and regulation of tobacco products is getting ridiculous.
Next they will have mouth cancer pictures on our once beautifully crafted cigar boxes..
:mad2:


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## Beer Alchemist (Aug 17, 2011)

Maybe everyone with an STD should have to get a tattoo on their forehead too. I'd be curious to know why tobacco has been singled out in a crowd of unhealthy products...after all discrimination is discrimination.


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## xtlosx (Nov 7, 2011)

Beer Alchemist said:


> Maybe everyone with an STD should have to get a tattoo on their forehead too. I'd be curious to know why tobacco has been singled out in a crowd of unhealthy products...after all discrimination is discrimination.


Smokers, drinkers, etc are an EASY scape goat for everyone. Here's the funny thing, guess who funds the children's health programs in IL? Cigarette & Alcohol taxes. These idiots don't understand that they more they ostracize smokers and everyone else, the people that benefit from these programs will suffer?

Sorry, I'm on a rant, but individual liberty and personal responsibility is the power of America, and we're losing our way. Too many whiners... can't even smoke a cigar in a restaurant anymore because it offends someone else. God forbid the whiners go to a restaurant that is like minded to them.


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## Beer Alchemist (Aug 17, 2011)

xtlosx said:


> Smokers, drinkers, etc are an EASY scape goat for everyone. Here's the funny thing, guess who funds the children's health programs in IL? Cigarette & Alcohol taxes. These idiots don't understand that they more they ostracize smokers and everyone else, the people that benefit from these programs will suffer?
> 
> Sorry, I'm on a rant, but individual liberty and personal responsibility is the power of America, and we're losing our way. Too many whiners... can't even smoke a cigar in a restaurant anymore because it offends someone else. God forbid the whiners go to a restaurant that is like minded to them.


Don't forget that the more taxes are raised on something the more black market is created. Indians regularly get busted in WA for smuggling tobacco without the tax stamps. Pardon the politically incorrect statement, but I'd laugh if they dressed up as white men and threw a bunch if cigarettes in the Puget Sound.


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## xtlosx (Nov 7, 2011)

Beer Alchemist said:


> Don't forget that the more taxes are raised on something the more black market is created. Indians regularly get busted in WA for smuggling tobacco without the tax stamps. Pardon the politically incorrect statement, but I'd laugh if they dressed up as white men and threw a bunch if cigarettes in the Puget Sound.


I'm sick of politicians thinking they can regulate everything from their little high mountaintop in DC. Let people be free and make their own decision. They need to learn and live with their decisions and the results that come from them!


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## Enrique1780 (Jan 25, 2010)

David_ESM said:


> Might as well put a picture of an obese guy on all soda/candy.


This. Some of the proposed pictures for cig. packages were awful.:yuck:


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## stanwell30 (Nov 8, 2011)

I don't think it's the politicians pushing this; it's the medical Powers That Be. They're almost like evangelical priests with regard to our physical bodies; it's not enough for them to help us, they have to tell us How To Live in order to achieve their view of a Perfect Life.

Insofar as the comment about, say, obesity labels on soft drinks: the big difference is that there's no one thing you can target WRT obesity. The better comparison is alcohol. BUT...tobacco's been hammered, and has generally bad PR now. Alcohol has far too much political/social muscle and backing for a similar campaign to gain any backing.

Final point, in response to xtlosx' point about restaurants: the problem here can be summed up as "your right to wave your hands, ends at my face." Our "hand" *doesn't* end at their "face." And I'm not talking about the health risks of second hand smoke, which IMO is largely fear-mongering...if it was as bad as noted, then we'd all be dead by 50. Nor am I overly worried about a relatively small minority who have notable physical reactions to second hand smoke. No...from an ethical perspective, it is simply true that many people don't like the smell. What enhances OUR pleasure, is detracting from THEIRS...in precisely the hand/face context. That makes the problem not-simple.

That said...the warning graphics are totally ridiculous. They DON'T have that kind of ethical argument. And a couple in particular are completely over the top; it feels like, were they attempted to be admitted at a trial, they'd generally be thrown out as inflammatory and unduly prejudicial...which of course *is* their purpose. I also tend to think they're the wrong approach altogether; fear just doesn't work that well.


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## Ammosmoke (Jan 25, 2011)

It seems that everything fun (motorcycles, fast cars, big trucks with bad mpg) and possibly slightly on edge (cigarettes, cigars, chew) has to be analyzed and used as a tool for political gain. Promo this, get votes, outlaw this, get votes, screw over this private sector, get votes. All the while, there are people actually eating up this crap like dung beetles! I just don't understand it. I DO understand that some people find smoking to be offensive, and I personally wouldn't want to be in a restaurant where people are smoking cigarettes. There are times when I wouldn't want to be in a room full of cigar smoke either. HOWEVER, I do NOT understand why there can't be restaurants and clubs where it is OK to smoke, and everyone going inside is WELL AWARE that there WILL be tobacco smoke. There will always be a market for both. So why all this fuss? Another thing I find curious is that the U.S. studies of smoking show crazy high figures of lung diseases and cancers among smokers, and massive amounts of deaths every year that are "smoking related." At the same time, European and Japanese studies show significantly lower figures, in societies with much higher smoking rates. Additionally, there isn't a big muckrake over second hand smoke, which I think is BS, especially in outdoor settings. Something is very skewed.


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## Enrique1780 (Jan 25, 2010)

Ammosmoke said:


> It seems that everything fun (motorcycles, fast cars, big trucks with bad mpg) and possibly slightly on edge (cigarettes, cigars, chew) has to be analyzed and used as a tool for political gain. Promo this, get votes, outlaw this, get votes, screw over this private sector, get votes. All the while, there are people actually eating up this crap like dung beetles! I just don't understand it. I DO understand that some people find smoking to be offensive, and I personally wouldn't want to be in a restaurant where people are smoking cigarettes. There are times when I wouldn't want to be in a room full of cigar smoke either. HOWEVER, I do NOT understand why there can't be restaurants and clubs where it is OK to smoke, and everyone going inside is WELL AWARE that there WILL be tobacco smoke. There will always be a market for both. So why all this fuss? Another thing I find curious is that the U.S. studies of smoking show crazy high figures of lung diseases and cancers among smokers, and massive amounts of deaths every year that are "smoking related." At the same time, European and Japanese studies show significantly lower figures, in societies with much higher smoking rates. Additionally, there isn't a big muckrake over second hand smoke, which I think is BS, especially in outdoor settings. Something is very skewed.


Well put. I agree 100%


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